I’m often asked how many hours - or days per week - it takes to serve on Council. My answer is that… it depends. To frame my comments, I’ll refer to the 2016 Council Remuneration Report, which is the last time significant effort went into considering the role and expectations of councillors.
Time
At the time of the 2016 report, the volunteer committee of residents found that councillors spent an average of 20-30h/week on Council business, excluding “community functions, dinners, or celebrations; external boards that a Councillor has been elected to (Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) and Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) in particular); conferences, meetings, or workshops that Councillors attend” (p. 9).
Voluntary activities might include Chamber of Commerce events, events with school boards or higher level of governments, or community events like the Rainmaker Rodeo parade. Workshops vary, but include events like the “offsite levy” workshop we’re attending this week. To speak of external/voluntary roles that benefit St. Albert, both Mayor Heron and Councillor Hansen serve on AUMA committees, Councillor Brodhead serves as Chair of the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Services Commission, and I serve as Chair of Homeland Housing.
Since the 2016 review, we’ve also added several committees, so the average time required for activities deemed necessary has likely increased by 2-5h/week. Most of our committees are listed on the City website.
I’m probably in the middle of the pack in terms of time spent on Council business, but my key activities include:
Council meetings (2pm, 2-3 times/month, avg. 4-5h/meeting… longest meeting was about 11h.)
Council meeting prep (2-6h/meeting - Last week’s agenda package was 258 pages and the previous one was 424.)
Blog updates & social media updates (Voluntary, but I’ve committed to being as transparent as possible about my activities and the activities of Council. 2-4h/week.)
Committee meetings & prep (9:30am & 1:30pm, once/month, 1-3h/meeting, but there is no obligation to attend both.)
Agenda Committee (Chairs of the standing committee attend a weekly agenda planning meeting with the mayor to set Council/Committee agendas. Including prep, ~1h/week.)
Assigned Committees ( ~8-12h/month, including prep.)
Homeland Housing Chair (Voluntary, about 2-3h/week.)
Meetings/calls with residents & media (Varies, this week is quiet/only about 2h for me.)
Emails/memos/reports. (This is keeping up on activities of staff, responding to emails from residents, answering questions, giving feedback, research, etc., ~10h/week.)
I would also add that how busy a week is depends on what is happening & the time of year. Generally, May/June and October/November are very busy, but December/January and July/August are a bit sleepy. So, I might go from working 50h+/week in November to 10h/week around Christmas. The times of day that we have commitments also depends - This week, for example, includes standing committee meetings (Monday morning & afternoon), two evening meetings with committees advising Council, and one daytime workshop.
(It took me a while to find balance - The first time I took a full day off was over a year after the election, on December 25, 2018. For any new councillors, I recommend setting better boundaries than I did my first year!)
Remuneration
Our remuneration is based on the premise that we are part-time and we work from home. The Council Remuneration Policy is available on the City website, but highlights include:
Salary (~$52,000/year),
Health benefits,
Pension contribution,
Support for attending conferences & continuing education,
Reimbursement for mileage outside the city & home office expenses.
From what I understand, all voluntary roles and some appointed roles include per diems, including for AUMA, Edmonton Global, EMRB, Wastewater Commission, and Transit Commission boards/committees. I’m only familiar with Homeland Housing’s remuneration: As a director + chair, I’m compensated ~$210/month; For this role, I attend board meetings, review and sign expense reports in Morinville twice per month, and meet with the CEO weekly.
Natalie was elected to the St. Albert City Council for the 2017-2021 term and would be honoured to serve again from 2021-2025. For those wanting to support Natalie’s campaign, please consider signing up for a lawn sign or offering a donation. Thank you for your support!
For anyone considering running in the 2021 election, please feel free to reach out to chat if you’d like to know more about what the Council role entails. Before I ran, I met with all but one sitting councillor and a number of former councillors and mayors. All provided insight into the role and helped me understand whether I wanted to run. A Candidates Guide: Running for Municipal Office in Alberta is also an important resource for anyone considering a run.
